Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 35: Poster 2

Q 35.26: Poster

Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 16:30–19:00, Poster.I+II

Cold-Atom Scanning Probe Microscopy of Carbon Nanotubes — •P. Federsel, P. Schneeweiß, M. Gierling, S. Bell, T.E. Judd, A. Günther, and J. Fortágh — CQ Center for Collective Quantum Phenomena and their Applications, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 14, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany

We demonstrate a novel cold-atom scanning probe microscope, which employs cold atom clouds as ultrasoft probe tips. The microscope can be operated in either contact or dynamic mode and allows for non-destructive measurements of nano-structures and forces in the yN (10⁻²⁴ N) regime.

Using this cold-atom scanning probe microscope we measure the Casimir-Polder force between Rubidium atoms and a single carbon nanotube. We spatially overlap ultracold thermal clouds and Bose-Einstein condensates with a free-standing nanotube and record the corresponding atom losses. From the loss rates we deduce the strength of the Casimir-Polder interaction and the inelastic scattering cross section of the nanotube.